Russian cult held 20 children underground

[wautd]

Religious child abuse? Shocking, I know

Russian Sect Found In Underground Bunker

Members of a Russian sect found living in an underground bunker with some 20 children, many of whom have never seen the sun, have been charged with child abuse.

Authorities said the Islamist cult had existed for nearly a decade without natural light or heating in their subterranean dwelling.

The expansive man-made cave was discovered underneath a brick building on the outskirts of the central city of Kazan.

Only a few of the 70 sect members were allowed to leave the property to work as traders at a local market, Russian media reported.

Deputy prosecutor Irina Petrova told journalists the bunker's rooms were like "cells", lacking sunlight and ventilation.

"According to the agency for control of public facilities, there are eight levels of rooms, where not only children but adults live as well," she said.

The group was identified as the Fayzarahmanist sect, named after its 83-year-old organiser Fayzrahman Satarov, who declared himself a prophet and his house an independent Islamic state.

Ms Petrova added Satarov had been charged with negligence.

Many of the cult's children, aged between 18 months and 17 years old, were born underground and had never seen daylight until officials sent them for health checks.

One 17-year-old girl was reported to be pregnant.

Doctor Tatyana Moroz, head of a local children's hospital, said the youngsters were all in a "satisfactory" condition.

"All the children had been fed, but they were dirty. Upon their arrival here they were washed... [and] they had a full medical check-up," she said.

The children will be cared for at an orphanage after they are discharged from hospital, Dr Moroz added.

The decrepit house above the bunker on a 700-square-metre (7,530-square-foot) plot of land was built illegally and will be demolished, police said.

One cult member, Gumer Ganiyev, shouted at reporters gathering outside the property: "They (the authorities) decided to fight against Allah. They will not defeat Allah.

"We, the community of Allah, will cede not a single step. They will come here with bulldozers, with machine-guns.

"Only by stepping over our bodies may they destroy our rooms and liquidate our community."

The children were discovered when police searched the grounds as part of an investigation into the recent killing of a top Muslim cleric.

The attack was blamed on radical Islamist groups that have mushroomed in the oil-rich, Volga River province of Tatarstan.

[madd0ct0r]

truth beats fiction. people are all kinds of fucked up.

Those poor kids must be pretty traumatized now - scary outside agency has turned up, ripped them away from the only family they know, sent them to a hosptial and then to a orphanage while their home is bulldozed. And it's still better then leaving them to their fate.

[someone_else]

"According to the agency for control of public facilities, there are eight levels of rooms, where not only children but adults live as well," she said.

Who did build this? The nutters? I mean it's pretty deep to go without serious equipment. I'm amazed the thing didn't cave-in killing a sizeable amount of them.

One 17-year-old girl was reported to be pregnant.

Cults are all the same. I hope the father isn't the cult leader or someone with authority.

"We, the community of Allah, will cede not a single step. They will come here with bulldozers, with machine-guns. "Only by stepping over our bodies may they destroy our rooms and liquidate our community."

Being this ex-soviet Russia, I fear the authorities will take that literally if the nust are really serious in defending their grounds.

The attack was blamed on radical Islamist groups that have mushroomed in the oil-rich, Volga River province of Tatarstan.

Uhm. What has a radical islamist group to do with oil-rich grounds? Are they a cover for something?

[General Mung Beans]

This sounds like the case of the Austrian girl who was locked in a room for several years on a larger scale. Unfortunately conditions in a lot of Russian orphanages are absolutely horrific.

[Irbis]

The attack was blamed on radical Islamist groups that have mushroomed in the oil-rich, Volga River province of Tatarstan.

Uhm. What has a radical islamist group to do with oil-rich grounds? Are they a cover for something?

The fact that Tatarstan (like name indicates) is predominately Islamic province and the extremists spreading from Caucasus and below target well-off provinces with their brethren to "fight the great satan/occupier"? In other words, to make the life there shit so more idiots join their cause?

[Sarevok]

This aint no muslim group. Some muslims have a problem with Russian government however they are not insane. They fight people not lock themselves underground and declare themselves a prophet which makes you a non muslim.

[K. A. Pital]

Mohammed isn't the only prophet in Islam. So there's nothing unislamic about declaring oneself a prophet, it seems.

[Lord Revan]

Mohammed isn't the only prophet in Islam. So there's nothing unislamic about declaring oneself a prophet, it seems.

it's been quite a while since I took my course in islamic history but IIRC Mohammed was suppose to be the last/final Prophet , with the others preceding him.

[Zaune]

I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a major religion that doesn't frown on people claiming to be prophets without compelling evidence they aren't just making it up as they go along.

[K. A. Pital]

Mohammed isn't the only prophet in Islam. So there's nothing unislamic about declaring oneself a prophet, it seems.

it's been quite a while since I took my course in islamic history but IIRC Mohammed was suppose to be the last/final Prophet , with the others preceding him.

Yes, but some islamic sects consider him not final (unlike mainstream islam). It does not mean they are separate from Islam as such, though, just like we don't think that Pentecostals are separate from Christianity. Ahmadis, for example, definetely belong to Islam though they consider their founder a prophet, and there's many millions of them.

[Lord Revan]

Mohammed isn't the only prophet in Islam. So there's nothing unislamic about declaring oneself a prophet, it seems.

it's been quite a while since I took my course in islamic history but IIRC Mohammed was suppose to be the last/final Prophet , with the others preceding him.

Yes, but some islamic sects consider him not final (unlike mainstream islam). It does not mean they are separate from Islam as such, though, just like we don't think that Pentecostals are separate from Christianity. Ahmadis, for example, definetely belong to Islam though they consider their founder a prophet, and there's many millions of them.

could be that my teacher for that course was palestinian so he probably didn't include all minor sects (assuming he even knew about them), especially when you consider that pretty much all of the students were christians (mostly lutherians but I didn't ask as it wasn't important) and said teacher had no desire for converting us only educating.

[someone_else]

well, cults all go the same route. They cherrypick stuff from a parent religion (or multiple religions) and can end very different from it.
Strangely they all end up worshipping their funders/funding family one way or another.
Or coercing teen followers to have sex with the funders.

Ahmadis, for example, definetely belong to Islam though they consider their founder a prophet, and there's many millions of them.

Your opinion. Mainstream muslims (the ones more concerned with determining who belongs to Islam) usually disagree with this. Ahmadis face marginalisation by the majority religious community (usually muslim) or worse, they are persecuted.

Too bad though. They seem to patch most of the bullshit that is spun to make terrorists.

we don't think that Pentecostals are separate from Christianity

I'm pretty sure RC (again the more concerned with determining who belongs to Christianity) would gladly see them purged with fire (but lacking the power to do so, just plays lamb).

[K. A. Pital]

I just meant that atheists would consider a cult or a minor religion (the difference between the two isn't really that clear cut) heavily based on Christianity or Islam a part of the overall (Judeo)-Christian or Islamic branch of religion, not something entirely separate.